


He Cooks when Hes Upset

by Strawberrysmilees



Category: Naruto
Genre: Fluff, M/M, alchoholuse, alittleangsty, butnothingmajor, firstwork, hurt/comforrt, livingtogether, naruto is kind of an asshole, questionabledecitions, roommates!AU, sasukeisgoodatcooking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-08-10 14:21:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7848430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strawberrysmilees/pseuds/Strawberrysmilees
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sasuke makes curry every time someone breaks up with him, and naruto REALLY likes Sasuke's curry. but is that all there is to it? roommates!AU , a little OOC, my first work so please don't judge me too harshly!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. that little pot of curry

**Author's Note:**

> Roommates!AU where Sasuke and Naruto are best friends, have lived together since university and are now a successful author/editor and artist respectively  
> this is my first fic on AO3 so please be gentle!

Naruto tiredly turned the key to his small, two bedroom apartment after a long day at work, his loose tie hanging around his neck like a noose. He was greeted by the sound of sizzling and the radio, as well as the smell of curry and chicken, and despite his exhaustion, he smiled.

"I'm home," he called into the apartment, although it seemed as though his best friend hadn't heard him over the cooking sounds and the music

Pulling off his tie and flicking off his shoes, he ran his hand through his messy hair as he stepped further into his apartment, poking his head into the kitchen and greeting his raven-haired roommate once again, this time so that he could hear.

"hey, Sas. I'm home."

"oh hey, Naru!" the spikey-haired boy turned, flashing his signature crooked smile at his best friend while absentmindedly stirring his culinary creation.

"you're sure home early today." Naruto frowned a little when he noticed that that smile didn't quite reach his garnet eyes, but returned it slightly all the same.

"yeah, got off a little early, my meeting didn't run as long as planned. What happened this time?" he inquired,placing a hand on the doorsill and leaning slightly, exhaustion catching up to him.

"why don’t you get changed first, and let me finish up here, and I'll explain over dinner?" he sighed, lips quirking into a disappointed grimace.

Naruto grinned and wordlessly continued down the hall, passing by Sasuke's open bedroom door and rolling his eyes.

Neat bedroom,with no personal touches, save the photo of himself, Sasuke and their best friend Sakura on graduation day, who was accompanied by her then boyfriend now fiance Lee, as they grinned clutching their certificates.

Why did Sasuke always have to be so practical?

He stepped into his own room, Half-finished canvas on the easel in the corner, Paint tubes and brushes everywhere, as well as flecks on the walls and clothes on the floor.

Figures that it was still messy, he hadn't gotten a chance to clean through yet, not with another exhibition coming along in a few weeks, although he put in a lot of effort keeping the rest of the apartment neat like Sasuke preferred it, from his insistence.

When had his wardrobe become mostly Sasuke's plain, boringly coloured shirts? Where were all of his fun, colourful ones?

Shrugging nonchalantly to himself, naruto pulled out the most fun shirt he could find, a navy blue one with the logo of their alumni school, Konoha University, pasted across the chest, and a pair of bright orange sweatpants.

"Naru! Dinner is ready!" Sasuke called from the kitchen, having turned down the radio to a low hum.

Naruto cheered in reply, plugging his phone in before padding back to the kitchen.

* * *

This happened every so often, he mused to himself. Returning home to the sound of sizzling and the smells of food had begun in college, when he and Sasuke had shared an apartment close to their university, having decided not to get a dorm as they were happy staying with each other anyway. He had found his best friend crouched over a bubbling pot of yellow curry, seasoning it with his tears as he sobbed quietly, and over the years he had come home to varying degrees of sadness and the smell of that something wonderful on the stove.

Even though Sasuke's relationships only ever lasted a week, some hit him harder than others, and he had never failed to tell naruto the story over curry, chicken, and rice.

* * *

 

"so what happened?" he asked as sympathetically as he could muster as Sasuke spooned rice and a chicken Katsu fillet onto his plate, before smothering it in his homemade curry sauce.

"did Gaara do something?" His raven-haired companion sighed.

"he broke up with me over coffee this morning. Said that he thought that we were better off as friends, that I was great and that he wished me every happiness or whatever, and then got up and left. He didn’t even foot the bill, after breaking my heart over his knee." naruto gripped his chopsticks angrily as his proceeded to eat, moaning loudly.

How did Sasuke manage to make such delicious food exclusively when he had broken up with someone?

"he's an idiot." Naruto managed to force out around his mouthful of food, determined to cram as much food in his belly as possible. "how dare he break up with you."

'I dunno, Naru." Sasuke sighed, picking at his food with a jaded expression. "maybe it's me. I mean, how many guys have broken up with me for the same reason? I've made so many curries this year, we might as well open a shop."

Naruto stopped eating to look his roommate in the eye, his own cerulean boring into the garnet across the table.

"there. Is. Nothing. Wrong. With. You." he articulated carefully, making sure the message sunk in. "it's all on them, okay? Now eat up, before its all in my belly." His passionate nagging and reassuring sunny grin made Sasuke smile a real grin that reached his eyes, sparkles emerging from the depths, and he dug in, his best friend easing his heart.


	2. that little pot of curry is boiling over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> seems that there might be alittle more to this than Sasuke bargined for

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter 2, lets go!

* * *

 

A few weeks later 

* * *

 

Once again naruto found himself home from a meeting early, tiredly turning the keys and opening the door to his apartment.

"I'm home." he called, surprise piercing his features when he smelled curry.

 

Sasuke hadn't said anything about any new guys lately, so something must be up. His heart lurched as he heard a familiar voice call from the kitchen. "in here, Naruto. Can you come in for a minute?"

 

He flicked off his shoes and half-ran to the kitchen, his heart beating faster than he could handle.

 

"what's going on, Sas? Are you okay?" he burst in, finding his best friend sitting at the dining table in front two plates of curry, chicken, and white rice. His usually sunny smile was set into a livid grimace, his eyes somehow flaming and hard at the same time, and his arms crossed over his broad chest.

 

"sit down, Naruto." Sasuke only ever used his full name when he was mad, and naruto palms began to sweat. He plonked down in his seat, dropping his backpack on the floor at his feet.

 

"what's going on Sasuke? Are you okay? Did something happen today when you went to lunch today?"  he asked worriedly, although the smell of curry had begun to distract him and he became painfully aware of the fact that he had been so busy that day he didn’t even get to have lunch. But nothing was more important to him than his best friend, so he waited.

 

"something like that.." the raven murmured to himself and then looked Naruto in the eyes. "I bumped into Neji today." Naruto flinched.

 

Neji had been  Sasuke's boyfriend after he realised his interests lay beyond the soft curves present on bodies of women. They had only dated for the customary week when naruto and Sasuke were in the first year, and he was the reason for one of the many times he had made curry, back in the tiny apartment they had shared 10 minutes from campus.

 

Sasuke had been a chemistry student then, before he had managed to convince his father to let him follow his passions into literature, having been jealous of naruto and his beloved arts degree from day one. Those 4 years had paid off, with Sasuke now working for his father and elder brother at their publishing firm as an editor while he worked on his third book, and naruto being a quickly emerging artist, popular amongst the rich and famous of Tokyo.

 

"what happened?? What did he say?" he asked, hands balling into fists in his lap.

 

"just small talk, at first. You know he's dating Gaara?" Naruto raised his eyebrows skeptically.

 

"yeah, seems like they just met a few weeks ago at a club really hit it off. But that’s not what I'm worried about. It was something he said that bothered me."

 

If the blond had thought his heart had lurched at the door, than what he was now suffering was a heart attack. I couldn’t be what he thought, could it?

 

"he asked me if we were still living together, and if you had managed to keep me single and all to yourself, or if your crazy threats had just worked on him." Sasuke's voice was cold, yet still burningly furious.

 

"I told him that we were still living together and asked him what he meant, and he burst into laughter. He told me that next time he sees you, he's going to buy you a drink, because, and I quote, ' _poor bastard has been sabotaging your relationships for years. He said it was because you cook really well after a breakup, and he missed your curry and that I didn’t deserve you. Although I think that last part might have been an afterthought.'_  then he kept laughing and walked away, although he wants to get drinks next week. Said I could bring you if we were still on speaking terms after this."In that moment, the blonde boy cursed Neji to the deepest, darkest pits of hell.

 

"what the hell, Naruto? What did he mean ?" garnet bore into cerulean, demanding an answer, but Naruto could only gape, not knowing what to say.

 

"loo-ok-an-okay, look Sasuke, please don’t be mad at me. I only said those things to get rid of him, you were so unhappy with Neji in the last couple of months, and I couldn’t stand to see you like that. Please, I was just looking out for you. And besides, you do only make curry when you are upset…" he had torn his eyes away from Sasuke to stare at his feet, feeling a strange mix of amusement at the stupidity of it all, and the shame that his best friend had found out his secret.

 

"naruto, are you trying to tell me that for the past 10 years that we have been friends, you have been sabotaging my relationships because YOU LIKED THE CURRY I MADE WHEN IM UPSET?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

"no, I-" naruto stuttered, but Sasuke wasn’t done

 "WHY YOU DIDN’T YOU JUST ASK ME TO MAKE IT WHEN I WAS HAPPY?! WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO KEEP ME ALONE?! DON’T TELL ME ITS BECAUSE YOU DON’T APPROVE OF ALL OF THE GUYS I DATED, THE LAST ONE WAS ONE OF YOUR FRIEND! " he growled, getting up abruptly as his chair squeaked across the ground in protest.

 

"Sasuke, none of those guys were good enough for you! You deserve so much better!" naruto pleaded, fear starting to grip his chest. Sasuke certainly did not see the funny side of this.

 

"that doesn’t give you the right to make that decision for me! They were important to me, you jerk!  What gives you the right to play God with my love life?!"

 

"Sasuke, please, I was just trying to look out for you.."

 

"oh yeah? What did you tell them all, to get them to dump me, huh?"

 

Shame burned Naruto's whiskered cheeks as he whispered, hoping Sasuke wouldn’t hear. "I told them that you make the best curry when your heart is broken, so they should just leave."

 

"what kind of a friend, no, not even that, what kind _of person_ breaks his best friends heart over and over again, just for a plate of curry?" Naruto couldn’t even reply.

 

"not one that I want to see for a while. Enjoy your Curry, Naruto." he made his way to the door, grabbing a prepared backpack. he sat, frozen, hands balled up so tightly on his lap that blood had begun to seep. The sound of the door clicking open jolted him up, but before he could even call out, it slammed shut, making the walls of the apartment shake under the force.

 

His vision became blurry as tears begun to roll down his cheeks, as he sat there with only one thought on his mind.

 

"I need a drink."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please be gentle!


	3. that little pot of curry is empty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and the conclusion

* * *

A few days later

* * *

 

The apartment smelt like alcohol and was covered in empty beer cans and chip packets. The door had only moved a couple of times since it had been slammed, but not from the one who slammed it, the phone had wrung so much it had wrung itself dry of battery. The fridge was empty, and there was a plate of untouched curry slowly rotting, unmoved from the time its creator had walked out of the door.

 

This is the raven-haired co-occupant of the apartment returned to as he opened the door slowly, nose crinkling from the smell.

 

"what the hell is going on here..?" he put down his backpack by the door and flicked off his shoes,  cramming his feet into a pair of slippers and padding slowly through the apartment.

 

 The kitchen had been ravaged some time ago, someone pouring out their rage and regret on the plates and cups that he had washed, their shattered remnants making cracking sounds under his feet. The person who had done that had also realised this, judging by the bloody footprint outlines  and red-brown flecks on the floor of the kitchen.

 

The hallway was relatively clean and quiet, save for the remnants of those bloody footprints and the odd beer can. Sasuke peeked into his room and found it untouched, save the photo on his dresser missing. Taking a deep breath, he headed to his roommate's bedroom, knowing that’s where the most carnage would be.

 

Naruto himself on the floor, the paint smell mixing with the strong smell of spirits and tears, tissues and empty bottles littering the floor. He had cried so much he was drained and had spent his time falling in and out of restless sleep, each time being awoken by his own screams of a name he expected never to see again.

 

His room was mostly the same, save evidence of more fitful anger with the drawer on its side, mirror broken and a disaster of clothes and glass bottles, semi and wholly intact, surrounding the broken boy like a nest. He was asleep, but tears still trickled from his clenching eyes, chest rising and falling with a stutter from his sobs, and clutched in his hands was the photo missing from his dresser, the glass shattered and bloodying his hands.

 

"Sasuke… Sasuke.."he moaned fitfully, behind his eyes reliving the moment he had lost his best friend.

 

"naruto… naruto wake up.." Sasuke knelt beside him, stroking his cheek gently and, using his thumbs, wiping away the tears. The usually bright and energetic eyes of the blond haired boy opened blearily and unsurely, as though he wasn’t sure if he was awake and in reality.

 

"Sasuke... What are you doing here…?" he asked in a small voice, trying and failing to hide the hurt and hopefulness in it. "I thought you. I thought you never wanted to see me again.. That I wasn’t your friend anymore.."

 

Sasuke chuckled bitterly and huskily, helping his best friend up and into a sitting position. He guessed that naruto was probably still a little hungover, guessing by the amount of alcohol remnants he had found, but this wasn’t a conversation to be had on the floor.

 

"I went to stay with my brother for a few days.  I was so heartbroken, so angry about what you did to me, and I was gonna come over here, and call you out for being a liar because I was so sure that no one would break up with me from your stupid curry excuse."Naruto hung his head in shame over again, but Sasuke put two fingers on his chin, gently nudging his head upwards so that he was staring into the depth of his garnet eyes.

"so I began to make some calls. Neji, Gaara, Lee, Kabuto, everyone I've ever dated and could get a hold of. I asked them, to be honest with me and tell me why they had broken up with me. And they all told me it was because of you." his lips curled slightly into a smirk.

 

"I thought that was it, that I had been proven right, that I finally could call you out for being the worst best friend ever, tell you I wished I had never met you, cut ties with you completely, all that jazz. But then they continued." he inched closer, bringing his fingers from Naruto's chin to cup his cheek once again, gently caressing his lowermost whisker with his thumb.

 

"they told me that you were in love with me and that you couldn’t handle them taking me away anymore. That you asked them if they thought that I was really in love with them and that I wasn’t, and that’s because you knew that I was in love with you, too. You asked them if they really thought that they had a future with a guy that is in love with his best friend and that if they thought that they did, you would back off, but if they didn’t, that they should just break up with me, before  I fell in love with them for real." his voice softened.

 

"they said that they all realised that I loved you more than I was ever interested in them, and they couldn’t compete. And that’s when I realised that they were right. That you were right. None of them were right for me, because the one who Is has been by my side all along, and sometimes across the table, eating curry while I whined to him about feeling alone, even though I never really did." he was so close that he was whispering now, lips inches from naruto and warm breath washing over the blond haired boys face.

 

"so, naruto? Was what you told them just a reason for them to leave me? Was it a lie? Or was it the truth?"

 

Naruto breathed in deeply before he spoke,  getting blissfully dizzy from the musky yet fresh smell of Sasuke that enveloped his senses. "it's all true, Sasuke. I asked those guys not to date you for more than a week because I love you, and I didn’t want them to take you away from me."

 

Sasuke's eyes softened a little. "but why didn’t you just tell me? Why did you keep having to meddle with my love life, why did I have to make so many pots of curry? Why didn’t you just tell me how you feel?"

 

"Because I didn’t want to be one of your pots of curry, Sasuke. I didn’t want to loose you. And in doing that, I almost lost you forever. Please Sasuke, forgive me, I was stupid. Please don’t turn me into one of your pots of curry." he pleaded softly, fear and shame mixed with hope as he was no longer drunk on the empty bottles of spirits, but on Sasuke's presence.

 

"I forgive you, Naru. Just don’t ever do it again, or you will become a pot of curry for real."

 

And with that, the blonde eyes lit up, and he closed the space between him and his raven-haired love, lips crashing in a desperate, heated, but somehow still gentle and tender kiss.

 

"I love you, Sasuke."

 

"I love you too, Naruto."

 

The curry pot sat on the floor of the bloodied and broken kitchen, not to see the use for a long while yet. 

* * *

_You know you're going to have to clean the mess you made in the apartment, right? And what the hell did you do to the kitchen? And your room?! Where did you even get that much alcohol?_

 

_I know, I know, geez Sas, nag much? WAIT!  Does this mean you're never going to make curry again?_

* * *

 


	4. Authors Note: sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS AN EXTENDED AUTHORS NOTE, IF YOU DONT CARE YOU DONT HAVE TO READ IT

hey everyone, I have been receiving a lot of messages about how unhealthy this relationship I have portrayed in this fic is, and to be honest I feel awful about it. 

I never meant for it to seem as though naruto was maliciously sabotaging Sasuke's relationships and ruining his self-esteem, and I guess I didn't convey this very well.

Sasuke would never really ask someone out, he would just say yes to the various people that would ask him out, out of pity and sometimes boredom,  and the times when it would affect more when he would cry would be if say he was kinda looking forward to it, if they were his friend maybe, or perhaps if he was going through something that week.

in my mind, he only with this last breakup I wrote about with Gaara questioned himself and his self esteem, as in addition to what I think is natural self-belief, affirmation from Itachi (who wasn't mentioned, and perhaps this is why there are so many misconceptions here) and from naruto himself kept him from questioning himself and thus, I don't think his self-esteem would have been damaged at all.

this is also why I included Sasuke leaving, because I Acknowledged that what naruto did was wrong and that he betrayed him, but the reason I decided that they should end up together is because Sasuke realised that naruto was right, that he had been in love with his best friend the whole time, and that in loving him, he also loved his shortcomings and his flaws. 

and isn't that what love is all about anyway? 

I know that there is a lot of things that I didn't get to include, and in my many many drafts I did try, but it never really flowed correctly without being super super long, and I just wanted this fic to be a short, sweet expression of two friends finally coming together, with the help of curry. 

I'm sure naruto will have to earn his trust again, but in the long run, I think these two crazy kids are meant for each other, and that's why I wrote this fic in the first place

I didn't mean to target any particular characters, I just wanted to add as many of them in because I truly love the series and I think it's great.

 

this has been a learning experience for me, and ironically my self-esteem has come under fire if I'm going to be honest, but I would like to thank you for your interest in my works, and that I hope that you will continue to read them as I grow and mature in my writing.

i will be working hard in the future to illustrate the kinds of relationships that i see in my head; not destructive ones, but ones with mistakes and misunderstandings, and forgiveness and love.

 

sorry if you made it through that extended freak out, to be honest I think i might delete this fic. please, tell me what you think, but please please be gentle, i am SO emotionally fragile. 

 

thanks again!

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed, please leave me a comment and tell me what you think, thanks for reading!~


End file.
